


Therindë

by Varaen



Series: Fills for LLA 2016 [11]
Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Elves, GFY, Gen, Rivendell | Imladris
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2016-05-02
Packaged: 2018-06-05 23:16:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6727411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Varaen/pseuds/Varaen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The largest and most impressive tapestries in Imladris came from the hand of Almarien.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Therindë

**Author's Note:**

> For the 25.04. prompt: Women Artists  
> Therindë is Quenya for needlewoman

The largest and most impressive tapestries in Imladris came from the hand of Almarien. While all elves with artistic skills contributed to the embellishment of their homes, Almarien’s devotion to her craft bordered on the obsessive. She could spend days at a time on a single piece, creating depictions of heartbreaking beauty and terrifying valor. Into them, she poured all her memories. All her grief for bliss long passed, longing for a home she had not seen since before the first sunrise, and sorrow for her suffering and the suffering of her kin.

She had sought refuge and oblivion after the death of her son, when the burden of her memories and the certainty of her exile grew too heavy. Instead she found the unexpected companionship of her law-sisters and a new appreciation for her art. She had learned at the feet of her grandmother, who had been apprentice to the famed Míriel Therindë. Many busybodies had nodded wisely, noting that it was only expected that she would wed a grandson of her greatest idol, even if it was not the one most blessed with his grandmother’s talent.

Through enduring struggle, she learned to channel hardship into beauty, and regret into brilliance. Her greatest success was a wall hanging depicting the two trees that Elrond had had suspended behind the head table in the dining hall. It was the result of several years of work, trying to distract herself from the war that was being fought in the South. Almarien had gone as far as spinning and dyeing all threads herself, drawing the gold and silver wire thread-thin herself and working on the piece all alone.

Now all but that one tapestry were being rolled up and packed away. Elrond was sailing west, and most of the household was leaving with him. Already when he announced his decision, he had refused to take the two trees with him, insisting that they remain as a sign of hope until the last Exiles returned home. Thus, she had gifted him with a depiction of his daughter’s wedding celebration instead, an eternal reminder of Arwen’s beauty and delight.

That would be her last significant feat in Middle-Earth, Almarien determined. The time of the elves was over, and she delighted in the art of mortals, whose styles would soon become universal. Even she would linger only a while longer, mainly waiting for Táranis to finally knock some sense into her husband and drag him onto a ship. She was weary, and ready to go home.

**Author's Note:**

> Almarien means flower-crowned.


End file.
